Software Showcase

by Andrew WelchThis issue's featured title is Ambrosia's handy menu bar color/volume control utility
ColorSwitch 2.3.0. This little gizmo can make life with your Mac a lot more enjoyable.
Why don't you invest a little download time and take it out for a test spin.

The Pitch

Like all of Ambrosia's utilities, ColorSwitch is designed to meet a common need in
the simplest way possible. Graphic artists, photographers and others who often need
to change their color depth on the fly will appreciate ColorSwitch's speed and ease
of use. The rest of us will enjoy a simple was to toggle back and forth between color depths
to meet program requirements or speed up processing (Mac's cruise along a little
faster when they have less colors to juggle). The volume allows for quick and easy
sound control, so you can eliminate those beeps and quacks while on important phone calls.

About ColorSwitch

ColorSwitch is a Control Panel that allows you to effortlessly switch between the
available color modes of any attached monitors. Instead of the inconvenience of using
the Monitors Control Panel every time you want to switch between color modes, you
can simply hold down the ColorSwitch modifier keys and click anywhere on the monitor you
want to change. A menu will pop up listing the available color modes for the monitor
you clicked on; just select the color mode you want and ColorSwitch will acquiesce.

Under System 7 or later, things are even easier: ColorSwitch installs a Monitor icon-menu
next to the Balloon Help menu, from which you can simply choose the color mode you
desire for your main monitor.

ColorSwitch also allows you to instantly change your Mac's speaker volume, either
from the icon-menu or from the popup menu.

Why Would I Use ColorSwitch?

ColorSwitch comes in very handy for many day-to-day tasks. Certain programs require
that your monitor be set to a certain color mode in order to run, and using the Monitors
control panel every time you need to switch color modes grows tiresome quickly. Your Macintosh will also operate more quickly if you normally operate in black and white
mode, switching to a more colorful setting only when you need to. ColorSwitch makes
switching color modes so quick and convenient, you will find yourself using it constantly to improve your quality of life at the computer.

The added bonus of being able to change your Mac's speaker volume from the ColorSwitch
menu makes ColorSwitch a truly handy program to have around.

Registration Fee

$10.00

Requirements

ColorSwitch requires a color-capable Macintosh with 32-bit Quickdraw installed, running
under System 6.05 or later. To take advantage of the Monitor icon-menu that ColorSwitch
installs in the menu bar, you need to be running System 7 or later.

ColorSwitch Controls

The Show Startup Icon checkbox controls whether or not ColorSwitch should display
its icon at startup time after it loads. ColorSwitch will still load regardless of
this setting, but some people prefer to not have this icon displayed.

The About... button brings up this on-line help.

The Settings button brings up a dialog box that allows you to choose the modifier
keys ColorSwitch will use, in addition to a mouse click, to bring up the color mode
menu. You may also choose if you'd like ColorSwitch to use the modifier-keys popup
menu, and/or if you'd like ColorSwitch to use the System-7 icon-menu.

The On/Off radio buttons allow you to turn ColorSwitch on or off. This does not take
effect until you restart your Macintosh.

Once you have installed ColorSwitch and configured it to suit your taste, simply hold
down the modifier keys you specified and click the mouse button on any attached monitor
to bring up the ColorSwitch menu. Once the menu appears, choose the color mode you desire and ColorSwitch will immediately switch the monitor to that color mode.

Under System 7, you can simply choose the color mode for your main monitor from the
Monitor icon-menu that appears to the left of the Balloon Help menu.

PowerPC and other future plans

ColorSwitch is completey compatible with the new PowerPC platform. ColorSwitch is
another program that, like Snapz, would not benefit at this time by being native.
We do have some additional features planned for it down the road however, so stay
tuned.

Problems?

If ColorSwitch does not work, check to see if it displays an X-ed out icon at startup
time. ColorSwitch will display this icon if it cannot load. Check the system requirements
under the Requirements heading above to make sure you have an acceptable configuration for ColorSwitch to operate in.